Surgical needle



Dec. 14, 1943. D, K RLE 2,336,689 SURGICAL IIIEEDLE Filed Ju ne 17, 1941I I grwq/wbob :fiahn D. Karla Patented Dec. 14, 1943 UNiTED STATESPATENT OFFKQE SURGICAL NEEDLE Application June 17, 1941, Serial No.398,367

8 Claims.

This invention relates to needles for surgical stitching instruments andit has as a primary object to provide an improved needle which willfacilitate the use of the instrument by reducing the force required tobe applied thereto to cause the needle to penetrate the tissues, wherebythe instrument may be used with considerably less effort than couldprior devices.

A further object of the invention is to provide a surgical stitchingneedle adapted to produce a puncture in the tissues which will moreeffectively resist the pull of the suture without tearing the tissuesthan was possible with prior needles.

These and other objects have been attained by the construction describedin the following specification and illustrated in the accompanyingdrawing in which:

Fig. 1 is an elevational view of a surgical stitching instrumentembodying my improved needle.

Fig. 2 is a left end view of the instrument illustrated in Fig. 1showing it in the act of suturing a flesh wound.

Fig. 3 is an enlarged side elevation of my improved needle.

Figs. 4, 5, 6 and '7 are cross sectional views of the needle taken onthe lines 4-4, 5-5, 6-6 and 'i'l, respectively, of Fig. 3.

Fig. 8 is an enlarged side view of the needle and a portion of itsholder, showing the needle at one extreme position in the act ofsuturing a flesh wound.

Figs. 9 and 10 are side and top views, respectively, on a greatlyenlarged scale, of the free or pointed end of the blade portion of myimproved needle.

Fig. 11 is a plan view illustrating the needle in the act of suturing aflesh wound.

Referring more specifically to the drawing the invention is illustratedas embodied in a'needle N comprising a shank 3, adapted to be clamped,at 9, in one end of a rod-like support 1" forming one part of a suturinginstrument designated generally as S, and a blade v extending from saidshank and curved in the direction of its length and provided at its freeend with a tissue-piercing point p. The blade is preferably taperedslightly in both width and thickness from the shank to the free endthereof. As shown most clearly in Figs. 5, 6 and 16, the inner concavesurface I and outer convex surface 2 of the blade are widthwiseflattened while the connecting side walls 3 and 3 are rounded. Asuture-eye 1 is formed in the blade at a distance from the point p andextends from the concave upper surface I throughthe blade to the convexlower surface 2. At its under or convex side the blade b is formed witha major suture groove 5 which extends substantially from the shank s tothe eye d.

A suture thread t, for use in the needle N, is preferably taken from asuitable spool 6 held within a spool-holder 1, carried by the instrumentS. This thread runs from the spool, through a thread-guide 8, formed inthe needle-clamping head 9, and thenc tangentially into the groove 5 onthe under side of the needle. A minor suturegroove It is formed in theupper or concave surface I of the blade I) at opposite ends of thesuture-eye 5. As shown most clearly in Figs. 1 and 10, that side wall 3of the blade I) which is at that side of the needle to which the support1 projects, is straight from the shank s to the free end thereof.Adjacent its free end the opposite side wall 3 is beveled laterally fromH, adjacent thesuture eye 4, to the free end of the wall 3 In the sameregion, the under wall 2 is beveled upwardly as at [2 to the free end ofthe blade, thereby producing the point p. From ll to the point p theupper and lower surfaces of the needle blade are also beveledhorizontally as indicated at b and N, Fig. '7, to provide, along theside wall 3 and within the cross sectional outline of the blade, atissue-cutting edge I3 Which is substantially coextensive with thetapered point of the needle.

In use, the instrument is first threaded as shown in Fig. 1. The pointof the needle is then placed upon the flesh or tissue 7 at one side of awound or incision, w. Rotation of the instrument about its longitudinalaxis then causes the point of the needle to pass into and through thetissues and emerge therefrom at the opposite side of the wound, carryingwith it the suture thread i. In Fig. 8 the instrument is illustrated inits fully rotated position with the eye of the needle projecting wellbeyond the point of emergence of the needle and with the threadextending a a chord 76 between the needle-eye and the said point ofemergence of the needle. This chord of thread is clearly visible andreadily accessible for engage; ment by a suitable instrument by means ofwhich the free end of the suture thread is pulled through the needlepuncture to the position indicated in dotted lines in Fig. 8. This freeend of the thread is then grasped and the instrument is rotatedreversely to withdraw the needle from the tissues. The thread projectingfrom the flesh at the opposite sides of the wound is then tied, asindicated at c in Fig. 11, thereby drawing the two sides of the woundtogether, after which the thread is severed or trimmed.

Because of the upwardly inclined bottom surface of the pointed end ofthe needle, the point p naturally tends to turn upwardly when passingthrough the tissues thereby facilitating the emergence of the point ofthe needle.

Inasmuch as the tissue-cutting edge I3 is located within the crosssectional outline of the blade it readily may be formed by simplegrinding operations which is a decided advantage from the standpoint ofmanufacture and economy. In other words, it is devoid of lateralprotuberances which to make would require swaging or other machiningoperations. Another decided advantage gained by the location of thecutting edge at the side of the needle is that when piercing the tissuesthe needle makes a puncture which extends transversely of the needleblade and therefore lengthwise of the wound which is to be closed. asshown in Fig. 11 this causes the pull of the suture thread to be appliedtransversely of the needle puncture, as distinguished from pullinglengthwise thereof, so that there is less tendency of the suture threadto tear or cut into the flesh tissues.

Still another advantage gained by having the cutting edge l3 located onthe side of the needle is that, after a stitch has been made, thecutting edge of the needle may very readily be brought into contact withthe suturing thread to sever the same.

It has been found, in actual use, that due to the shape and proportionsof my improved needle including the flat upper and under surfaces, therounded side walls, the long tapered point, tapered from one side to theother and the tissuecutting edge located at the side of the needle andwithin the cross sectional outline thereof, suturing of flesh wounds maybe accomplished with greater facility and with less effort than withsurgical needles and surgical stitching instruments as heretoforeconstructed.

Furthermore, it has been found that because of the fixed and constantrelation between the handle and the needle and because of the shape ofthe needle-point and the provision of the tissue-cutting edge along theside thereof, the needle may be passed through the tissues withoutapplying thereto stresses which heretofore have tended to break theneedle. This, together with the increased strength of the needle due toits tapered construction, has greatly reduced needle breakage. Stillfurther, should a needle be broken between the eye and the shank the twoparts thereof readily may be removed from the wound without difficultybecause the shank portion is secured in the instrument and the bladeportion has the suture thread passed therethrough by means of which thatportion may be retrieved.

Having thus set forth the nature of the invention what I claim hereinis:

1. A surgical needle comprising a shank adapted to be secured in asuitable holder, a blade extending from said shank and curved in thedirec-- tion of its length and having widthwise flattened convex andconcave surfaces and rounded side walls connecting said surfaces, thefree end of said blade being tapered from bottom to top and from oneside to the other to form an upwardly inclined tissue-piercing point,said blade having a suture-eye formed through the free end portionthereof at a distance from said point, and a tissue-cutting edge formedalong one side wall of said blade between said eye and said point.

2. A surgical needle comprising a shank, a

blade extending from said shank and curved in the direction of itslength to form a concave inner surface and a convex outer surface, saidinner surface being widthwise flattened, the free end of said bladebeing tapered to form a tissuepiercing point, said blade having asuture-eye formed therein at a distance from said point and asuture-groove in its convex outer surface, said groove extendingsubstantially from said shank to said eye, and a tissue-cutting edgeformed along one side of said blade between the convex and concavesurfaces thereof and extending from adjacent said suture-eye to saidpoint.

3. A surgical needle comprising a shank adapted to be secured in asuitable holder, a blade extending from said shank and curved in thedirection of its length, said blade having concave and convex surfaceswhich are substantially flat in the direction perpendicular to a planecontaining the axis of said blade and rounded side walls connecting saidsurfaces, said blade also having a suture-eye formed therein adjacent tobut spaced from one end thereof, one side wall of said shank extendingsubstantially straight to the free end of said blade and the oppositeside wall being beveled toward the other side wall from adjacent saideye to the free end of the blade to form a tissue-piercing point, saidblade also being beveled from a lower corner thereof at the juncture ofone of said side walls and said convex surface to an upper corner at thejuncture of the other side side wall and said concave surface to form atissue-cutting edge substan-- tially coextensive with saidtissue-piercing point.

4. A surgical needle comprising a blade curved in the direction of itslength and having convex and concave surfaces and side walls connectingsaid surfaces, one end portion of said blade being tapered to form atissue-piercing point and having a suture-eye formed therein at adistance from said point, said blade being beveled downwardly from saidconcave surface and upwardly from said convex surface to form atissue-cutting edge along one side wall of said blade between said eyeand said point.

5. A surgical needle comprising a blade curved in the direction of itslength and having convex and concave surfaces and side walls connectingsaid surfaces, one end of said blade being tapered upwardly andlaterally to form a tissue-piercing point in line with one edge of saidblade, said blade having a suture-eye formed therein adjacent to butspaced from said point, said blade also being beveled downwardly fromsaid concave surface and upwardly from said convex surface to form adiagonally extending tissue-cutting edge along one side wall of saidblade between said eye and said point and within the cross-sectionaloutline of said blade.

6. A surgical needle comprising a straight shank adapted to be securedin a suitable holder, a blade extending from said shank and curved inthe direction of its length, said blade having widthwise flattenedconvex and concave surfaces, rounded side walls connecting said surfacesand a suture-eye adjacent to but spaced from one end thereof. one sidewall of said blade extending substantially straight to the free end ofsaid blade and the opposite side wall being beveled lengthwise towardthe straight side wall from adjacent said eye to the free end of saidblade, said beveled side wall being sharpened to form a tissue-cuttingedge arranged lengthwise of said blade and extending angularly from oneside wall to the other.

7. An eye-pointed surgical needle including a curved blade generallyrectangular in cross section and having a concave top Wall, a curvedbottom wall and two side walls of which one is rounded throughoutits'length, a tissue-piercing 5 point at one end of said blade, said topand bottom walls being locally beveled toward each other to form atissue-cutting edge along the other of said side walls adjacent saidpoint and within the cross sectional outline of the blade.

8. An eye-pointed surgical needle including a 10 cross sectional outlineof the blade.

JOHN D. KARLE.

